Bugaboo Video and Refinery29

It's pretty clear that I think Bronson is the best dad in the world to my sweet girls....And, some other people seem to agree with me.

Refinery 29 did an article on 'The Coolest Dads in San Fransisco" and decided to feature Bronson, Zuri, and Remi for Father's Day. 

You can read it HERE.

On top of that, Bugaboo shot a behind the scenes video of the photo shoot!

Behind the scenes at the Refinery29 "Cool dads of San Francisco shoot"

from Bugaboo on Vimeo.

 A little side note... 

We've had the 'Bugaboo Bee' stroller for about 3 months and it has changed the way we go out. The only way I can describe it is like this: Say you have mounds of laundry to wash, but your dryer only dries 50% of the time. So, you end up hating laundry because  the dryer is unreliable, and half the time you're going to end up with wet clothes strewn around your house. 

Well, that's how I felt about going out alone with my two kids before I had 'The Bee'.

A running list of reasons to not go out that went on inside my head before Bugaboo:

-Would Remi want me to hold her that day? If so, then I couldn't push the beast stroller sitting Zuri one handed?

-Would it fit into the taxi?

-Would it fit through the mall shopping aisles?

-Would it fit on the train?

What if my kids get tired? They cant lay down...

...and so on.

Well, we got our Bugaboo and those excuses that would play through my mind have stopped.

Its just easy and reliable.

Like a dryer that dries 100% of the time. 

If one of the kids is acting up, I can wrangle them with one arm and still push the other kid with ease one handed, its light weight and narrow so it goes everywhere, the seat lays flat so the kids can nap, and it folds and unfold with the push of button. 

Only two questions.

 Why aren't all strollers built this way???

And why did I wait so long?!?!

The LONG of 2, 3, & 4

*First off, thank you so much for all of your sweet emails and comments about asthma/allergies/and eczema! I have an even more hopeful outlook on Remi's condition than before, and I am so appreciative of all the great advice I've received. -- I've decided that on top of Remi's current meds, I am switching her to local, raw, organic, grass fed cow's milk, and am getting her into a chiropractor that works with our insurance ASAP. Once again, I can't thank you all enough.....I haven't slept more soundly in months!

Ok..let's get into my other 'secrets I've been keeping'

2. In the last 3 months we have gone down to Santa Cruz almost every weekend.

We just cant help ourselves

And I know, I know......

I told you all we were taking our weekends to explore the state-go South, go North, go to the woods, go into the city, go to the vineyards, etc.....

But we just keep going back to Santa Cruz.

Why? I think its because its just so easy. Everyone has something that works for them there. Great waves for Bronson, shallow/sandy beaches for the girls, and the sunshine for mama. Plus, I've been introduced to crystals and stones by my aunt Jackie, [eeek! I'm cringing! ...this secret is still new to me, so its still a little hard to get used to talking about openly] but I've been learning about all the healing power and good vibes these stones put out...So anyways, there are the best little shops down in Santa Cruz that have beautiful jewelry, books, and crystals to add to my growing rock collection.

We love it, and that's that.

Oh! Best yet, our family came to town...

And, Oh! they gave me a garden for mothers day! We have spent hours playing around our mini potted garden in the backyard. Zuri is better at it than me so far....We're claiming she has a green thumb.

                                           

  3. A boy named Ruckus moved in with us.

Yup, you read that right.

Ruckus.

And the funny part is that he kinda looks like Bronson.... He's like Bronson and my brother, Rory, all smushed into one guy named, Ruckus. Its so strange! The whole first day he was here, Remi would peek around the corner and spy on him. She called him "daddy boy" until she finally learned his name after about 3 days. ha ha.

I almost feel like our home is a real live episode of "Full House" right now. We have:

Landon: Uncle Joey
Ruckus: Uncle Jessie
Bronson: the dad
Me: DJ
Zuzu: Stephanie
and Remi: Michelle.

Its a circus around here--I'm just saying. But really, the day the 2 extra boys move out in July is a day I will probably be bawling my eyes out. It's been too much fun having them around, and I'm sure the house will feel lonely when they're gone.

4. My book and Grey's Anatomy addiction

 I have to come clean about this.

I just have to.

I had never watched an episode of Grey's in my entire life until 9 weeks ago. When Remi was finally coughing so bad that I couldn't take her out anymore, I decided I should start a series on Netflix to keep me semi sane during the long, hard days.

Within 9 weeks I watched every single episode of every single season there is of Grey's Anatomy. I am, literally, caught up to where people who have been watching the series for 6+ years are today.

This fact is somewhat embarrassing to me.

But on the flip side, I feel more intelligent. I, like, seriously know my medical terminology these days----I even dream about craniotomies and cardiothoracic surgeries. So, even though I might not actually be more intelligent, feeling more intelligent is all that really matters, right? yup.

On top of devouring endless hours of TV, I also picked up two books that I simply could not put down. Both of them were suggested to me by my good friend, Jessica, and I don't think she knows the absolute gift she has given me by handing over these titles.
They are:

1-Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah

& 2-The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

If you haven't read them--read them. Just do it!

So there you have it. All my couped up 'nothings' that I haven't been saying, but felt like I needed to say.  

...And I guess sometimes the best way to move forward in life is to take a step back and reminisce a bit. Replay the events and say,  "Well, that happened." then move on... Don't you think?

It works for me at least.

Secrets I've been keeping

It's no secret that I've been keeping secrets from you....I have been somewhat MIA.

So, I decided its time to give you the short version and the long version of whats been happening around here.

IN SHORT:

1. Remi's diagnosis 

2. Family visiting, weekly getaways, and gardening.

3. New Roommate 

4. My book/Grey's Anatomy addiction

IN LONG:

(lets take this one bite at a time, today you'll get the lengthy/depressing version of #1.)

Remi's Diagnosis.

Since Remi was born she has had horrible eczema (see me almost drown her because of it HERE). As she got older and we introduced more foods into her system, we noticed her eczema would worsen with different foods.

Then we gave her peanut butter one day. 

Instant and terrifying allergic reaction. 

So there you have it---we have an allergy baby.

great

Fast forward almost a year, and here we are in our new home in SF.  I love our new, old house. I love the character, the yard, our blue door, and the mailbox attached to my front porch--I love everything.

But,  I distinctly remember Remi getting a cough after the first two weeks of living here-- and its a cough that hasn't gone away still to this day. After a few months of all of us not feeling too well, and especially Remi suffering from cold after cold, and a persistent cough I knew something was wrong. So,  our medical mystery journey begins here.

After the 6th doctors appointment in no time at all, and listening to Remi's sick lungs once again, they finally agreed that it was not just a virus, not croup, not anything else going around--its time for a specialist to get involved...a specialist with 2 and 1/2 month waiting list. 

That appointment finally happened just last week and I am so relieved and happy to have a plan started to treat what we found out about Remi's condition.

It turns out Remi has severe childhood Asthma--something we already suspected and tried to treat earlier, but inhalers and nebulizers seemed to do absolutely nothing but make her even more mad which would throw her into an even bigger coughing fit than before. 

Her current state of health is scary. The inflammation in her lungs is severe and her oxygen levels are on the low side. She is such a good and funny little girl, you would never know she is pain and fighting to breathe normally every day of her life. So, to stabilize her current condition she is on a very short dose of Prednisone (so scary for me), and a more long-term daily dose of Singulaire.

Once her asthma is under better control, the specialist will do an allergy scratch/pin test that will tell us exactly what foods are a trigger for her asthma and eczema, and what foods she actually has an allergy to-on top of peanuts. This same allergy test will also test for dust mites and mold.

The relief we all feel having a treatment plan in place is something I can't even describe. I never let anyone know the true depths of my fears about my little girl's health throughout the last 6 months because it was almost too much bare. And more than that, I wanted to protect her. She can't speak for herself yet, and I felt like the more people that I let know about her condition, the more opinions about it I would start hearing.  Then I feared that people would start speaking for her....I didn't want that.  I didn't want other peoples opinions or experiences to cloud my judgement, or make us any more fearful than we already were. 

BUT! We have answers now, and with answers comes a little peace of mind. I feel  more like myself again and finally hopeful for whats to come for us all in the next few months. 

If you or anyone you know has a child suffering from severe childhood asthma, I am now totally open to hearing about your experiences with medications--or even more intriguing to me--any natural alternatives out there if there is such a thing. I've read up on proper hydration  (including potassium and sodium in electrolyte water) having a positive effect on asthma...anyone have any other good natural remedies?? I'd love and appreciate hearing any advice!

An old, rebellious soul

I'm an old soul. An old, and rebellious soul.

Contradictory? Agreed.

The minute that someone tells me I should be a certain way, I go the opposite. And I know that as an adult and as a mother  I should have outgrown this by now, but I have realized its not something I can ever grow out.

It's who I am.

I question everything, I over analyze, and I'll try anything once. I have to know everything for myself....Its kind of like I took Lavar Burton's quote from then end to Reading Rainbow, to "don't take my word for it" too literally, and I have to figure out things in my own way in my own space.

But, I'm deeply connected to my "inner me" at the same time. I don't show it to people often, but its there. And I trust it more than I trust you to be quite blunt.

...And my inner me is a really old lady, I think.

haha

I'm not a product of the times. I almost hate technology---I hate the instant accessibility that an IPhone brings. I hate being at a dinner table and everyone is head down in their own cyber-world. But more than that, I hate that I follow suit. I follow most of the time cause I'm like "what the hell is everyone looking at? I better check..." So, I whip out my phone and check, too.

Then I see this:

And it rings true to me. Its exactly how I feel.  All my old lady self wants is to connect with people. I don't want to know about you so that I can then go gossip and spew all your information out in a twisted way...I just want to hear because I honestly like to know. I learn from you...you learn from me. And I don't ever want to fix anybody, because there is something beautiful that happens when you break down in front of someone and the other person is just there for you, not giving you instructions on how to not feel what you're feeling, don't you agree?

So, I decided a few weeks ago that I wouldn't write anything on here until I felt compelled to post something, which is kind of scary.


 Most of you bloggers will understand what I am talking about, because there is this common knowledge thing when it comes blogging now. A formula I guess you could call it, about how to have a successful blog. This formula dictates that you blog on a schedule to let your readers know when your posts are coming, on top of that: have one or more day themes like "Fashion Friday", do giveaways, always have multiple and beautiful photos in every post, and throw in promotions here and there.

Well, I hated the formula. It goes against the grain of my soul.

So, I stopped with the filler posts. A few days went by and it felt weird to not check in with you guys. Then it felt scary. Like, Oh no...its been 8 days. I'll lose readers, they'll worry, etc. Then I turned the corner, and it felt pretty freeing.

In a world where there is literally a "how to" on every single thing you can think of including, I kid you not, "How to Pray For Your Husband" (...which is crazy to me, because if you're the one married to the guy, I promise that you know your husband more than the woman typing up the Internet husband prayer list on pinterest---If you dig deep, you'll know exactly how and what you need to pray for in your spouse.) But anyways, it felt good to kick the formula, and the "How-to's" to the curb.

 I learned to not live in fear that if I don't follow the formula that my writing must suck and not be worth reading. And I guess, this post is to encourage the other writers out there that can't, or dont want to follow the formula either, that they can still be good, too. Really good.

 So maybe you dont have a photo for your post today...who cares? So maybe you're not writing during peak hours, or maybe you dont even have a single reader. Continue to write anyways---why? Because I want to read it. I want to know you. And others do, too.

santa cruz

We're havin fun in the Santa Cruz sun this Mother's Day with the whole Christensen crew.

Life truly is good because of all the moms out there. 

My life is better because of my moms.

My life is better because I get to be a mom.

And my life is better knowing that I get to see my kids become mothers one day. 

Happy Mother's day, whether you're a mom or not.

The Skinny and Me: Hair Edition

Hurry on over to The Skinny Confidential to check out my hair routine.

April Showers

 I spent the month of April bawling like a baby.

Sobbing like I haven't in years.

It started one morning while I was waiting outside Zuri's preschool. I was going through my Email and I noticed one from her new Kindergarten school she'll be attending this Fall and opened it immediately. 

I was shocked at what I read.

It stated that she couldn't be enrolled in the Transitional Kindergarten program I put her in because of her birthday. 

I knew I wanted to give her one extra year before real kindergarten, but until I opened that Email I didn't realize how much I wanted that extra year for her, and for us, too.

So, I was a little mad and confused, and in the next minute the kids were walking out the door of the school. 

Before I knew what I was doing,  I was out of my car and walking into her teachers house...Her teacher welcomed me in and asked what was up,  and the next thing I know I open my mouth and can't speak. I find myself in this house that feels so comfy, and I'm standing in front of this lady who loves my daughter like her grandma's do, and then crocodile tears are flowing freely---and I'm astounded by the amount of water coming down my face...it was dripping down my chin and onto my chest---I was sobbing without any warning at all.

I couldn't believe it!  And Zu's teacher couldn't believe it either...I told her in between sobs that Zuri didn't qualify for the TK program and how concerned and scared I felt.  She just hugged me and rubbed my back while listening to the whole thing. It's funny now to think that I ended up snuggling Zuri's preschool teacher like she was my mom---But that's exactly what I needed in that moment and mine was so, so far away.

She gave me courage to fight it, to write a letter of appeal--to even march into the school and bawl to the staff just like I was bawling to her until someone paid attention. So, I did.

But the tears didn't stop when that was over.

I found myself crying over everything.

I went to yoga one night when Bronson and Landon were out of town, and I was so disappointed when I realized it was a 'Sundown Yoga' class and not the regular thing. The teacher was pretty much the guy from the Clear Eyes commercial with the most monotone, deep and boring voice ever, and the class consisted of 2 whopping leg stretches and a lot of child pose. I wasn't feeling it after 45 minutes and contemplated leaving until the Clear Eyes Allergy drops guy's voice started to engulf me. 

I was hanging on to every word suddenly, feeling every stretch, and I became totally relaxed. The class was winding down and we were laying on our back--the Clear Eyes yogi was telling us to be present, to feel our feelings, feel our bodies, be grateful for who we are where we've been, and all of a sudden I'm lying there bawling all over again. Emotions I haven't felt in years surfaced and there I was just feeling all of them at once.

And the rest of the month I continued to cry.

I cried over Grey's Anatomy.

I cried over Zuri not knowing all of her letters.

And then, I cried over Zuri learning the letters she didn't know.

I cried cause the house is always messy.

I cried because I miss my family.

I cried over my old life in Utah, my friends, and all the fun we had.

I cried because I feel so loved.

I cried because I feel so grateful.

I cried because I stopped nursing Remi.

I cried because I know I'm been watched over. 

I cried because my family is growing and evolving too fast.

I cried because I'm scared for whats to come.

I cried because I miss feeling silly and spontaneous.

I cried over the new and amazing people I have in my life now.

And after a lot of tears and thought, I think it all comes down to this:

A chapter in my families life is ending. I have a daughter entering school and I know that for the rest of her life and mine that she wont ever be as safe and as sheltered as she is hanging out with us. My husbands career is taking off and its clear we are no longer 18 years old anymore...I see him growing and excelling and I'm so proud of him--and, then I see weird lines in both our foreheads that surely weren't there just last year....

This growing older thing is crazy, right?  Hopefully I'll get used to it one day.